Windows 8 will contain a credentials manager that stores and manages Web and Windows User credentials using a Live ID in the cloud, making your accounts more secure.

As The Washington Post reports, Windows 8 will contain a password management feature that allows you to “store any passwords you create, then sync them across all other trusted Windows 8 machines.” You must have a valid Windows Live ID to sync your passwords to it. Anytime you log onto your PC with your Windows Live ID, all web and user passwords will work just as they did on another computer if you have synced them. Remember when you had to write down your credentials or have to click “Forgot My Password?” It may soon be a thing of the past.

This new feature also adds a security bonus. The H states that the passwords are “recorded on first use” and will “reduce password reuse” by having users choose different passwords for different accounts. Thus, it lets the management system remember it for them. This helps keep hackers from compromising accounts. If a user forgets their Windows Live ID on one computer, “they can have them sent to them online from another computer.” But what happens if my Windows Live account is compromised? No worries. You will still be able to log onto your computer. Windows will accept the last (or old) password used and if you had a mobile device attached to it, a confirmation code can be sent to your phone to regain your Windows Live account as long as the mobile device and/or number was attached to it.

Those who do not have or want a Windows Live ID will still be able to use this feature, but cannot sync it to other computers. Metro Apps will have their own feature subsequently similar to this using their own API. This feature altogether will be implemented starting with Internet Explorer 10.